


switch courage on

by moonlesbians



Series: peace and trust can win the day despite of all your losing (bandori superhero au) [1]
Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, it’s gonna be a bit confusing but hey so is the mcu and they make like a billion per movie so, might take a while but all the bands will team up at some point, misaki has many regrets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 09:18:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14850035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlesbians/pseuds/moonlesbians
Summary: There are a million reasons Misaki never wanted to get involved in the whole saving-the-world business, but sometimes you accidentally shapeshift into a bear and end up helping an amateur team of heroes defeat a supervillain.Hey, it happens.





	1. misaki joins the team

**Author's Note:**

> title is a lyric from the bandori wiki’s translation of wacha-mocha-pettan koushinkyoku just edited to make it flow better or w/e
> 
> superpowers:  
> kokoro- fire  
> kaoru- basically thor  
> hagumi- fast  
> kanon- water  
> misaki- shapeshifts into a bear

“No.” Misaki shakes her head adamantly. “I will _not_ help you save the world or be a superhero or anything.”

Three pairs of sad puppy eyes bore into her soul. Misaki thinks intently of the flames being thrown dangerously close to her head while she dodged lightning and tried to keep track of where Hagumi was not five minutes ago to resist their pull. 

“Why not?” Kokoro asks. “You could bring Michelle to fights!”

Something about the way the blonde girl phrases her suggestion makes Misaki suspect Kokoro has not yet grasped the concept of shapeshifting. “Look, Michelle is only as useful as I am. I don’t know how to fight, and an inexperienced bear is just gonna destroy everything around it trying to hit a bad guy.”

“Maybe you could help us train Michelle? We’ll help her get good at punching things,” Hagumi pleads. Make that two dumbasses. 

“I’m Michelle, I turn into her, my power is shapeshifting- Kaoru, will you please explain it to these two?” Misaki reaches out to the absurdly buff girl, hoping she speaks Dumbass.

“Of course! What Lady Misaki is trying to convey is that she has an emotional bond with Michelle. They are such close friends that she feels as if they share a spirit- ah, how fleeting,” Kaoru sighs. 

Great. The fucking mythical goddess of thunder can round out the goddamn Three Stooges.

Kanon speaks up, and Misaki is ready to contact WatchMojo.com and tell them to update their list of Top 10 Anime Betrayals. “Misaki, I... I know you probably have your own personal reasons for not wanting to join the team, but you were- uh, Michelle was really helpful today. Hagumi, you saw what she did to that guy, right?”

Hagumi nods. “I saw it, but I didn’t think you did. Your eyes were closed, right?”

Misaki winces- another reason she’s not fond of using her power. Bears can be brutal. 

“Anyway, I think if we helped her learn to know her own strength, she could be a really good teammate,” Kanon continues. The three stooges nod vigorously, and Kanon gives her a sweet, shy smile. 

Misaki knows when she’s lost. 

“All right,” she concedes. “But I don’t go out into any fights until I’ve learned to control Michelle a bit more. You’ll already have the police far enough up your asses as is.”

Kokoro shakes her head. “Don’t worry about the police. They’ll take care of it.” She points to one of the people in black suits that seem to follow her around. Misaki doesn’t trust them in the slightest.

“Then it is decided!” Before Misaki knows what’s happening, Kaoru has picked her up bridal-style, which seems to require absolutely no effort on her behalf whatsoever. (Not that she’s opposed to it or anything- like she said, absurdly buff.) “We welcome you and your ursine friend to our brigade of warriors.”

As the other members crowd around her and cheer at truly deafening volumes, Misaki sighs.

What the _hell_ has she gotten herself into?


	2. exit, pursued by michelle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Misaki shakes her head. 
> 
> “What the hell were you thinking, Okusawa?” she asks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!!
> 
> i am very aware that it has been 2 months but you know what im gonna finish this fucking fic if it takes the rest of my high school career
> 
> also i changed the title bc i felt like it

The next morning, Misaki wakes up and is almost able to convince herself that yesterday’s events were a dream before checking her phone. 

__**[07:22 AM] Unknown Number:** misaki!!!!!!!  
 **[07:22 AM] Unknown Number:** this is kokoro!!! i got ur number from the suits!!!!!  
 **[07:23 AM] Unknown Number:** anyway we’re training together this afternoon!! cmon over bring michelle we’ll pick u up around 10!!!! 

Misaki groans- partially from the brightness of her screen, partially because she’s never seen so many exclamation points in one place before. 

_**[09:47 AM] You:** i don’t think i have a choice so sure i’ll come over. do i need to bring anything?  
 **[09:47 AM] fireball:** nope we have anything u need!! cant wait 2 see u!!!_

Misaki tries to complete her morning routine as normally as possible-shower, brush teeth, wash face, get dressed- but when she finishes pulling her hoodie over her head, she makes eye contact with her reflection in the mirror. Her reflection stares back at her, tired and disbelieving, like it’s her conscience or something.

She blinks once, twice, then laughs humorlessly and watches as her reflection imitates her shaking her head.

“What the hell were you thinking, Okusawa?”

[...]

As Misaki absentmindedly chews on a banana by way of breakfast, she turns to her best substitute for a therapist: Google. 

_help i am a superhero_ , she types. The results only show kids’ songs and creative writing prompts. 

_help i am a bear_ brings up a book for sale on Amazon titled “HELP! A Bear Is Eating Me,” which seems like it would not be your best option if you were seeking immediate help in that situation. When _help i turned into a bear_ gets her myths, the movie Brother Bear (which is not half bad), and a bear who fought in the Polish army during World War II, she gives up. 

Setting down her phone and throwing out the banana peel, Misaki sighs. God, she didn’t want to be a superhero; she never wanted to be in the spotlight, and besides, it’s so dangerous. She’s not particularly concerned about herself, but an avalanche of sudden worry crashes over her- what about Mina? If Misaki got hurt in a fight, she’d be so torn up over it- or _fuck_ , what if someone figured out who Misaki was and tried to get to her by hurting her sister?

“I can’t let that happen,” she mumbles to herself, feeling sick at the thought of not being able to protect Mina. She’ll just have to-

A car horn honks from outside, Misaki’s phone buzzes, and she jumps about a foot before reading the message.

_**[09:59 AM] fireball:** the suits are outside to pick u up cant wait 2 see u!!_

At first Misaki starts to type an explanation as to why there is no fucking way she’s going along with this hero stuff, but then it occurs to her that as much as Kokoro’s physical presence exhausts her, she probably has a better chance at getting her point across in person.

__**[10:00 AM] You:** on my way  
 **[10:00 AM] You:** wait, i never told you my address  
 **[10:00 AM] You:** how are the suits at my house  
 **[10:01 AM] fireball:** hmm... idk they just find things out!! anyway today is gonna b rly fun!!!! 

“That’s sketchy as shit,” Misaki mutters to herself on her way out the door. 

[...]

Yeah, the shady suit people and the stretch limo had tipped Misaki off that Kokoro was rich, but holy fuck, Kokoro’s house is _huge._

The car pulls up to the entryway, and Misaki is so wrapped up in admiring the architecture that it takes her a second to register that they’ve stopped moving.

“Kokoro-sama will be out to meet you any minute,” the driver informs her, hitting a button that opens the car door.

“Right. Uh, thanks for the ride,” Misaki offers.

The driver nods, and the car drives away once Misaki is out. Her new surroundings are beautiful, Misaki notes, turning around to look at the mermaid sculpture that sits atop the fountain bubbling in the middle of the circular drive. Flowers frame the marble base, and the pleasant smell mixes with a faint whiff of chlorine- Kokoro must have a pool, she reasons. She’d like to explore, but there’s a reason she’s here, and she reminds herself it’s not to hang around.

“Misaki!” someone cheers from behind her, and she barely has time to brace herself before a surprisingly strong pair of arms clamp around her body. “I’m so glad you came!”

“Jesus fuck,” Misaki gasps once she’s ascertained that her attacker is in fact Kokoro. “Hi.”

Kokoro starts talking a mile a minute as Misaki manages to wriggle free from her boa constrictor grip. “This is gonna be so much fun! Everyone except Kaoru is already here, so we’re almost ready to get started. How was the ride? Isn’t the limo sweet?”

“The ride was good, yeah,” Misaki says. “Uh... I like your house. The mermaid is nice.”

“Thanks!” Kokoro looks around before leaning in and whispering conspiratorially, “I like her ‘cause she’s got her titties out.”

Despite herself, Misaki has to laugh. “...She sure does.” Before she can bring up the real reason she’s here, though, a clap of thunder booms as the clouds darken and lightning flashes, and Kokoro squeals. “Come on! Kaoru’s here!”

“Wait, Kokoro, just a minute-“ Misaki protests, but Kokoro is already pulling her through the front door of the mansion and down the main hall. “Hagumi, hurry up!” she yells. 

Misaki hears the sound of glass breaking and barely sees an orange blur before Hagumi is right in front of them. “Hi, Mii-kun!”

“Hey,” Misaki manages, but Hagumi has already zipped away down another hall. Kokoro laughs and follows her, and Misaki is out of breath by the time they reach the back garden. Kanon puts down her water bottle and waves at them, and Misaki feels slightly better about this whole thing. 

“You have to see this, it’s sick as shit,” Hagumi says, plopping herself down on the bench next to Kanon. Misaki sits as well, and Kokoro uses Hagumi’s head as a chin rest.

“Okay, I’m lost, what’s going on?” Misaki asks. Kanon gestures to the lawn, and not a second later a column of rainbow light shoots out of the sky and crashes into the ground. Light flashes everywhere, reflecting on Kokoro and Hagumi’s grinning faces and accompanied by bolts of lightning. Misaki thinks if she squints, she can see a figure in the light, and as the rainbow fades the figure becomes more visible- a purple-haired woman, holding a hammer aloft with one muscled arm and looking exhilarated. 

“Kaoru!” Kokoro and Hagumi yell, ignoring the small flames smoldering where the light burnt an intricately patterned circle into the grass and launching themselves onto their teammate. Kaoru sweeps them both off the ground, hugging them like she hasn’t seen them for years even though Misaki knows for a fact she saw them yesterday, and Kanon smiles fondly at the three of them despite the imminent chaos. (Kanon has a pretty smile, Misaki thinks absently.)

Kokoro and Hagumi chatter excitedly, and Kaoru starts to reply before catching a glimpse of the two on the bench. “Ah, my kittens,” she calls, and Kanon’s cheeks turn pink. With her long legs, Kaoru makes it over to them in only a couple of seconds and pulls Misaki and Kanon into a hug as well. She’s strong, and smells like wood smoke and some flower Misaki can’t quite place, and Misaki thinks it would actually be very nice if she could breathe.

“H-human lungs, Kaoru,” Kanon stutters and pats Kaoru on the back, and Kaoru releases them. “I apologize, my dear friends,” Kaoru says as Misaki gratefully inhales. “I was simply too excited to see you- ah, and the added blessing of Lady Misaki and her friend joining our team makes my heart sing like nothing else at being surrounded by all this beauty.” 

“Okay, you can tone it down, Romeo,” Misaki says, very calmly because the lack of oxygen is absolutely the only reason she’s gone a bit red in the face. “Actually, I- um, I have something to say about that. Joining the team. I’d like everyone to listen.”

“A speech!” Kaoru clasps her hands over her heart. “Kokoro, Hagumi, come and listen to our friend. As your great Bard once said, speak what you feel, not what you ought to say.” 

Everyone gathers around Misaki, and she takes a deep breath. “Listen, everyone, I really appreciate your faith in me- er, Michelle- but I can’t do it. There are too many things that could go wrong. People could get hurt, and it would be my fault, or-“ The team stares at her, and she sighs, knowing she has to just get it out. “I’m not joining the team. Michelle’s not joining.”

There’s an agonizing two seconds of silence, and then Kanon sniffles. _Oh fuck oh god no please don’t cry,_ Misaki internally begs, but to no avail as the other girl’s purple eyes well up and a tear slides down her cheek. 

“No!” Hagumi wails and flings herself at Misaki, who has now been nearly suffocated by hugs three times today. Kokoro joins in, and Kaoru looks disappointed. “What has your ursine companion said about this?” she asks. “Surely if we can talk to Michelle, we can reach some sort of agreement.”

Misaki pushes the two clinging to her away and shakes her head adamantly. “No,” she says. “That’s not happening. I can’t-“

Kokoro starts crying loudly. “Please let Michelle stay with us! You have to!” she sobs, and Misaki is about to scream that _for the love of god she is Michelle_ when Kanon speaks up. 

“Let her go.” Kanon’s voice trembles, and she sounds choked up, but she’s crying silently. “She doesn’t have to if she doesn’t want to.”

From the stunned silence that follows, Misaki can tell Kanon doesn’t assert herself very often. The rest of the team stares at her before Kokoro finally looks down at her shoes. “Sorry, Misaki,” Kokoro says quietly. “I’ll tell the suits to bring the car out front.”

“It’s okay. Thanks for understanding,” Misaki replies, making what she hopes is meaningful eye contact with Kanon. Kokoro taps at her smart-watch as Misaki makes her way back to the front driveway. 

[...]

“Fuck.”

Misaki kicks at a stray pebble and sits on the edge of the fountain, sighing defeatedly. She feels bad for disappointing the team, but she can’t just run around turning into a bear and stopping crime all the time. 

Can she?

In some way, she almost feels like she’s let down a friend. The three stooges aren’t the type she’d choose to hang out with, but Kanon’s teary face pops uninvited into her mind, and she shakes her head to ground herself. She pulls out her phone for a distraction, although about twenty seconds later she hears footsteps across the cobblestone drive.

“Hi,” Kanon says, pulling at the hem of her jacket. She’s stopped crying, but she still sniffles intermittently. Instinctively, Misaki shuffles around in her pocket for a tissue, but grimaces and reaches into her bag instead when the only one she finds is used and disintegrating. “Just a second,” she mumbles, finally pulling out a clean packet of tissues and offering them to Kanon. “Um... you can sit down if you want.”

Kanon gratefully accepts both the tissues and the seat, and once she’s finished wiping her nose, she looks at the design on the packet and smiles. “I love penguins.”

Misaki smiles back. “Yeah, I thought these were cute.” Kanon gives a tiny giggle, and the sentence Misaki was formulating in her head disappears altogether. Once she manages to bring it back, she takes a breath and starts, “I’m sorry I couldn’t-“

Kanon cuts her off quickly. “No, no, no, I’m sorry. Yesterday I probably made you feel like you had to join and I shouldn’t have done that. This is my fault, I promise I’m not mad or anything,” she says insistently.

“It’s all right,” Misaki says, taken aback a bit by Kanon’s sudden intensity. After another pause, she asks, “Why do you do it?”

“What?”

“The hero thing. I’d like to understand.”

Kanon nods. “I didn’t want to, at first,” she starts. “When I first found out about my powers, I didn’t like using them. It’s usually kind of messy, and I don’t like a lot of attention, but-“ Kanon stops abruptly, and Misaki gets the sense that whatever comes next is a difficult memory. “Take your time,” she says.

After a couple of seconds, Kanon continues. “One day, a candle got knocked over and there was a fire in my house. I was coming home from school and I heard my mom calling for help and the next thing I knew everything was soaking wet, but the fire was out. She was calling for help because the candle was close to the ceiling, so it had spread there, and a beam had fallen off and broken her leg. Other than that and a couple burns, she was fine, but I kept thinking- what if I hadn’t used my powers? What if I didn’t have them? I couldn’t stop thinking about it. If I didn’t, I would have-“ Kanon starts sniffling again and reaches for the tissues. “And then I thought- that could happen to anyone, but they might not be able to do what I did. It wouldn’t be fair to just let them lose the people they love. So I try to help people.”

Misaki nods. “I’m glad your mom was okay,” she offers. 

“Thanks,” Kanon says, and Misaki thinks she hears her whisper, “I am too.” A second later, she seems to realize something. “I hope that didn’t feel like I was guilting you into joining the team or anything, because that’s not what I wanted, I’m really sorry if-“

“It’s okay, you definitely weren’t,” Misaki reassures her, and Kanon seems relieved. She really is pretty, Misaki thinks as Kanon tucks a stray piece of blue hair behind her ear. Kanon notices Misaki looking at her, and there’s a moment of awkward eye contact before they both look away, Misaki fervently hoping she’s not blushing. 

The stretch limo from earlier pulls around the drive, and one of the suits rolls down the window. “Ready to take you home now,” the driver says.

Misaki looks at the driver, then at Kanon, listens to the gradually increasing sounds of chaos from the back garden, and takes a deep breath.

“Actually, I changed my mind. I’m staying.”

Kanon’s face lights up as the driver nods and pulls away. “Really?”

“Really,” Misaki responds, smiling. Kanon looks like she wants to squeal and jump, but settles for taking Misaki’s hand. “I’m glad.”

“So am I,” Misaki says, squeezing Kanon’s hand to hide the fact that she’s completely freaking out because _girl holding hand._ “Let’s go.”

When Kanon announces to the others that Misaki is staying, she promptly receives the fourth bone-crushing hug of the day as Kokoro shrieks in her ear and Kaoru says something about destiny that is almost definitely misquoted from Shakespeare. 

She’s beginning to think she might not mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, tumblr is nebulasmantis

**Author's Note:**

> i’m planning on continuing this as well as writing other bands’ stories in this au so stay tuned if you like superpowered chaos and lesbians i guess
> 
> tumblr: nebulasmantis (i’m kind of inactive)


End file.
